The RENT: High School Daze
by Girl Who Writes
Summary: AU: Mimi likes Roger. Roger likes Mimi. But it's definitely not a date, no matter what Mark and Maureen think.
1. The Secret

**Title:** High School Daze 1/5

**Author: **Girl Who Writes

**Feedback:** is beloved if you feel so inclined.

**Pairing:** Angel/Collins, implied Roger/April, implied Roger/Mimi

**Word Count:** 1434

**Rating:** M

**Genre:** Humour, Drama, Major AU.

**Summary:** New student Angel Dumott-Schaunard catches the eye of Senior Tom Collins, much to the delight of their friends.

**Notes:** I will warn everyone that I have never written a word of slash; this is my first and I'm very proud of this fic. I am completely unfamiliar with the American school system, so if anything seems odd, it is because I am Australian. Very tempting to call this The R.E.N.T in the manner of The O.C., but I resisted. I'd also like to let everyone know this is sort of like a series fic - I've already written the second fic in in the series. If I have my way, this fic will chronicle about nine stories focusing on this particular year of high school. I hope you like it!

**Special Thanks:** This challenge was set for me by discoapocalypse as part of speed rent, and it was awesome; it got me thinking and out of my comfort zone. I had a lot of crazy fun writing it :D Thank you so much, and I hope this is what you wanted and that you enjoy it!

**Spoilers:** Um... say movie and musical, but this is AU and drastically different.

**Warnings:** Language.

**Disclaimer:** Characters are property of the Jonathan Larson Estate. Hazel and Exodus are my characters.

* * *

Thomas Collins dropped onto the bench seat beside Roger Davis, dropping a pile of books onto the wooden picnic style table. 

"It's lunch, Collins," Roger said around a mouthful of sandwich. "The books aren't welcome here."

"Eugh," Mark Cohen made a face as he got a full view of Roger's half masticated lunch, and began to pick at his own lunch. "Roger…"

Roger swallowed. "What?"

"The books," Collins began, ignoring the exchange, "are for my term paper."

"That is due in eight weeks," Mark said slowly.

"That's…" Roger tried to do the math in his head. "Fifty two days?"

"Fifty six," Collins correct. "Forty, if you don't count the weekends."

"Whatever," Roger went back to his lunch.

"Your term paper being on what, exactly?" Mark plucked a carrot stick from his lunch. "And if it's for Mackenzie's class, you were the ones who told us that her papers aren't worth prepping for."

"You're going to give Marky an aneurism," Roger looked up from the remains of his lunch. "I wrote my last response on the back of a Battle of the Bands flyer."

"What did you get for it?"

"A D. But that's because I was comparing the Civil War to this school's administrative dictatorship," Roger snatched Mark's cookie.

Collins closed his eyes briefly. Mark and Roger might be an entire year behind him, in the eleventh grade, but between Mark's tendency for getting to the truth of the matter, despite what the textbooks said, and Roger's predisposition for stirring shit up, he dreaded to think what they would get up to the following year when he was away at college.

Sometimes, he managed to reign in their crazier proposals before the teachers caught wind of them. Like Mark's discovery of the mice the seventh graders were studying in Science – he'd planned to free them before Collins pointed out that they were domesticated, and letting them out would be far crueler than allowing them to live out their days in a cage with a running wheel.

"My paper is on the political ramifications of feminist actions dating back to the eighteenth century," Collins interjected.

"Anne Boleyn," Roger shrugged.

"That was the 1500s," Mark picked up one of the books on Collins' pile. "And stretching the boundaries of feminism, Roger."

"What? She slept her way to the top," Roger shrugged. "Why exactly are you starting this paper decades before it's due, anyway?"

Collins felt himself blush. "Uh…"

Mark and Roger exchanged a look, identical evil expression spreading across their faces. "There's a someone, isn't there?" Mark leant over so the people at the next table couldn't hear their conversation. This school wasn't exactly known for its equal views; hell, the community itself didn't even pretend to be open-minded. Collins found himself thanking whatever powers were out there that he had found accepting friends in Mark and Roger.

"Tell us about this 'girl'," Roger made quotation marks with his hands, before getting distracted by some girls walking past.

"Here?" Collins looked around doubtfully; he didn't want a teacher to overhear the conversation and be forced in front of the school counselor again, as was becoming tradition.

"Eh," Roger shrugged.

"Point him out so Roger and I can stalk him for the rest of the week," Mark shrugged, and looked up in time to see Maureen Johnson walking – or bouncing – over to where they sat.

Maureen had been a friend of Mark's since before they could speak, and was always referred to by Mrs. Cohen as, 'that nice Maureen.' In reality, Maureen was possibly the most terrifying female Collins had ever met, and one of the most genuine friends he would ever have. Nothing stood in Maureen's way, whether it be a failing grade, a rusted out locker or a brick wall. She shared many classes with Roger and Mark, and was very much the drama queen.

So, of course Mark was completely besotted with her. It was almost amusing to watch little Mark Cohen almost fall off his seat when Maureen flopped down next to him.

"Hi," Maureen flashed a huge smile at all three of the guys; Roger rolled his eyes and pulled a wad of sheet music from his bag, Mark managed a shaky smile whilst trying to regain his equilibrium and Collins offered her some food.

"You guys heard about that school that had to close? A fire or gas leak or something?" she leant forward. "They had to send the students to other schools in the area?"

"Yeah?" Roger looked up, mildly interested.

"Fire caused by a gas leak," Mark managed to squeak out.

"Yeah," Maureen flashed a smile in Mark's direction that almost made him pass out. "Some of those kids ended up here!"

Collins let out a gentle cough and Roger caught on, turning to Maureen, stuffing his music back into his bag.

"I don't know what the other classes got, but the eleventh grade got two. A really cute looking boy and a girl," Maureen finished with her share of Collins' lunch. "I didn't get their names."

"Why are you telling us?" Roger asked, furrowing his brow.

Maureen stood up and offered them another patented smile, winking in Collins' direction. "No reason," before half skipping away. Mark resumed breathing properly, taking off his glasses to clean them.

"You told Johnson something before you told us?" Roger looked at Collins, wide-eyed. "Miss Let-me-just-call-everyone-I-ever-met?" He reached for his Coke.

"I do believe last time I tried to have a semi-serious discussion with you, Davis," Collins replied calmly, "you were wrapped around one of your classmates; a Ms April Ericsson, I recall."

Roger proceeded to choke and spluttered, covering everything and everyone in Coke and saliva.

"Eugh," Mark made a face before turning to Roger. "April?" And then to Collins, "Maureen?" His voice broke a little.

"Not Maureen," Collins sighed.

"She sucks like a Hoover," Roger replied, a comment that caused Mark to spit his drink all over them and send Collins into peels of laughter. Most of the comments Roger made were made for shock value and nothing else. Both Mark and Collins knew him too well to take much stock from what Roger said, but sometimes he'd come out with something that made even Mark think twice.

Mark shook his head and turned back to Collins. "What did Maureen mean?"

"The boy who got a place in the junior class…" Collins began.

"Oh," Mark said as it dawned on him. "What's that got to do with the books?"

"They were being given a tour of the library," Collins replied, feeling more than a little silly about the whole thing. "There's eight of them."

"Our school isn't exactly known for its generosity," Mark snorted.

"Well, are we going to the library or not?" Roger said impatiently.

"Huh?" Collins turned to see Roger standing up, his bag over his shoulder.

Roger shrugged. "I figure, their first day at this hell hole, they'll hide in the library. Where else is better to scope them out? Save them from Maureen's friends, at least."

"I don't know," Collins said, looking at Mark, who was already dragging his prized video camera from the depths of his bag. Mark had told the school he was filming as part of some end of year thing, as an excuse to wander aimlessly around the school and film when Collins and Roger were previously indisposed.

"We should welcome the new students," Mark said, mimicking his own mother with creepy accuracy.

Collins had a feeling this was a bad idea.

* * *


	2. The New Kids

**Title:** High School Daze 2/5

**Author: **Girl Who Writes

**Feedback:** is beloved if you feel so inclined.

**Pairing:** Angel/Collins, implied Roger/April, implied Roger/Mimi

**Word Count:** 1434

**Rating:** M

**Genre:** Humour, Drama, Major AU.

**Summary:** New student Angel Dumott-Schaunard catches the eye of Senior Tom Collins, much to the delight of their friends.

**Notes:** I am aware April doesn't come across as a very nice person in this first story, but remember that teenagers can be awful and that April will get her own little story in this. I'm also away this weekend, so I thought I'd post a new chapter for you all. Thank you so much to all my wonderful reviewers; I was very worried about this fic :)

**Special Thanks:** This challenge was set for me by discoapocalypse as part of speed rent, and it was awesome; it got me thinking and out of my comfort zone. I had a lot of crazy fun writing it :D Thank you so much, and I hope this is what you wanted and that you enjoy it!

**Spoilers:** Um... say movie and musical, but this is AU and drastically different.

**Warnings:** Language.

**Disclaimer:** Characters are property of the Jonathan Larson Estate. Hazel and Exodus are my characters.

* * *

It wasn't hard to find the new students, especially in the library. They were dotted around the library – one girl was working, three boys were playing a handheld video game, two girls were paging through the out dated magazines the library supplied, and there was a pair in the window seat, books discarded on the ground, chatting animatedly in Spanish. 

The school wasn't exactly known for it's embracing of cultural diversity either, Collins thought sympathetically as he caught sight of the evil glares the librarians were sending their way.

The three of them walked up to the pair, piling their things onto a nearby table before going over, Mark filming the pair closely.

"Hi, I'm Mark Cohen. We heard you were new to the school," Mark smiled, pulling his camera away from his face.

The pair looked up, unsure at the newcomers, and Collins got a good look them both. The girl was very pretty, with long dark hair pinned back with sparkly barrettes. She smiled tentatively, tugging her jacket closer around her.

The boy, however, was incredible to look at. Collins knew he was staring, but he couldn't drag his eyes away. Big dark eyes and possibly the most welcoming smile he'd ever received; he was wearing black pinstripe jeans that were just a little too tight and a dark grey and light purple t shirt; nothing like what the other students wore. There were several black and purple rubber bracelets twisted around his wrists, and Collins could see the glitter nail polish the boy was wearing. He was like no one Collins had ever met in his completely average life, especially since his parents had moved here several months before. This boy was an individual, who didn't care what the middle class snobs at this school though.

Thomas Collins was hooked, and he didn't even know the boy's name.

Roger beat him to the post, though. He offered an easy smile to the girl, rather than the smirk he usually flashed in April's direction. "Roger Davis."

The girl offered a slightly shy smile back. "Mimi Marquez. And this is…"

"Angel Dumott-Schnaurd." The boy was on his feet, the welcoming smile still on his face, but a wary look in his eyes.

"We just came to say hey, and see if you needed any help," Mark said, rewinding his camera.

"Ignore the camera," Collins managed to add. "It's like an extension of Mark; you'll rarely see him without it."

Angel smiled at him. "You are…?"

"Friends call me Collins… Tom Collins."

"Well, Tom … Collins," Angel picked up his bag. "Maybe you could show me to my next class. Mimi-chica is still a sophomore and I'm completely lost here. I've got Junior Modern History with a T. Mackenzie."

"Oh, we're in that class," Mark began, Roger elbowing him so hard in the ribs that he was almost winded.

"I can show you Mackenzie's classroom," Collins managed to say, hearing his heart pound. This was too much good luck… Angel was flirting with him?

"Mimi, you be okay on your own?" Angel turned around with a concerned look.

"I'll make sure she gets to class," Roger offered eagerly. Mark snorted from behind his camera.

"I'll see you later then," Angel grinned at Mimi and she smiled back, her eyes bright. As Angel and Collins began to walk away, Mimi called something after her in Spanish, giggling, something that caused Angel to whip around, mortified, cheeks flushing before dragging Collins out of the library.

"What class have you got next?" Roger sat beside Mimi.

"Oh, I've got…"

"Roger!"

Mark looked up to see the familiar red head of April approaching fast, and began to wind his camera on and resume filming. April and Roger had been flirting with each other tirelessly since the sixth grade, and at the beginning of tenth grade, a rumor filtered through out the school that they'd 'hooked up' at someone's party – a party neither Roger nor Mark had attended. However, the rumor inspired April to try even harder with Roger. They'd been out together a few times to Mark's knowledge, but Roger had drifted away from April's circle of friends; he'd muttered something about April and drugs and Mark had never questioned his best friend about it.

But April was persistent, and Roger still liked her, and was helpless to her charms.

"Roger," April was beside him in a second, clutching her books to her chest. "Are you coming to English?"

"Uh, sure," Roger shrugged and got up, grabbing his guitar and bag from the table. "I'll see ya," he offered Mimi an apologetic smile before trailing after April. Mark shook his head and sat next to Mimi, who looked vaguely hurt at Roger's sudden departure.

"So, where do you need to be?" Mark asked, trying to be friendly.

"Oh, its okay, I can find it myself," Mimi stammered, pulling her timetable from her pocket.

"We promised Angel and Collins we'd get you to your next class," Mark took the page from her. "Art, huh? Mrs Martin is a scary, scary woman."

"Great," Mimi offered a tentative smile. "First day at a new school and more scary teachers than I've ever had before."

"It's a job requirement at this school that the teachers have to be mental cases," Mark said as they got up and left the library. "There were the lesbian music teachers that were fired when they were caught eh… during school hours in the music room. I didn't think anyone could be that stupid. And the principal will never call you the same name twice, the only working heaters and air conditioners are found in the admin block and the Mr. Savage, your English teacher? He enjoys trying to convince all his classes that he speaks fluent French when he doesn't know one word."

Mimi laughed out loud as Mark lead her across the campus. "Wow. And I thought our teachers were weird."

"Nope. We've got the world's most disturbed collection of adults ever in one place. Here's your next class. Now, if you walk up those stairs there, that's where you'll find your last class of the day," Mark handed Mimi back her timetable. "Good luck. There's a reason none of the Juniors take Martin's art class anymore."

Mimi sniggered, and stuffed her timetable back into her pocket. "Thanks Mark. Oh, and hey… your friend Tom who took Angel to your next class?"

"Yeah," Mark looked up.

"Does he like Angel?" Mimi's face was carefully blank.

"Uh…"

"Angel saw him in the library, getting out all these really heavy textbooks and…" Mimi waved her hands about. "S.. HE! He really likes Tom… Collins."

Mark caught Mimi's slip but said nothing and smiled at her. "Collins really likes Angel, so I think it'll work itself out."

Mimi's face broke into a smile. "Oh good! Angel was worried that Collins might not be…"

"Gay?" Mark shrugged. "Well, you'll probably catch on fast, but this school isn't exactly known for promoting anything except middle-class stereotypes; one of the Geography teachers caught Collins talking about his ex-boyfriend, and Collins ends up in a meeting with the counselor every Wednesday. Someone calls Collins a fag for being in an all-girl art class, and it's Collins whose parents are called."

Mimi's smile faded. "You'll make sure no one gets to Angel, right?" she said, shrugging. "He doesn't need any of that crap from these kids."

Mark nodded slowly. "Sure. Don't worry, go and have fun. I'll probably see you around."

"Thanks Mark!"

* * *


	3. The Invitation

**Title:** High School Daze 3/5

**Author: **Girl Who Writes

**Feedback:** is beloved if you feel so inclined.

**Pairing:** Angel/Collins, implied Roger/April, implied Roger/Mimi

**Word Count:** 1981

**Rating:** M

**Genre:** Humour, Drama, Major AU.

**Summary:** New student Angel Dumott-Schaunard catches the eye of Senior Tom Collins, much to the delight of their friends.

**Notes:** I will warn everyone that I have never written a word of slash; this is my first and I'm very proud of this fic. I am completely unfamiliar with the American school system, so if anything seems odd, it is because I am Australian. Very tempting to call this The R.E.N.T in the manner of The O.C., but I resisted.

**Special Thanks:** This challenge was set for me by discoapocalypse as part of speed rent, and it was awesome; it got me thinking and out of my comfort zone. I had a lot of crazy fun writing it :D Thank you so much, and I hope this is what you wanted and that you enjoy it!

**Spoilers:** Um... say movie and musical, but this is AU and drastically different.

**Warnings:** Language.

**Disclaimer:** Characters are property of the Jonathan Larson Estate. Hazel and Exodus are my characters.

* * *

Angel smiled to him self as he trotted along next to Collins. Tom Collins; it had an old-fashioned charm about it. Reminded him of his grandmother's stories about New York City 'back in the day', when ladies wore gloves and perfume came in spun glass bottles and everyone had a smile for everyone else. Angel loved hearing those stories. 

"So…" Angel started, and mentally panicked. He couldn't think of anything to say! He'd never been flustered like this by another person before. Even his ex boyfriend hadn't left him lost for something to say.

"I have some advice for navigating the hallowed hallways of this fine educational institution," Collins' voice was a deep baritone, and it washed over Angel like a lifeline amongst the crowds of teenagers. "One, never sit to the back of the classroom if you intend to do something incriminating with your time; the teachers are trained to keep their eyes on the reprobates in the back. Two, never ask anyone from the English faculty to clarify something for you. They won't understand what you're asking. Three, don't say anything that could be considered controversial. Don't even think it, and you'll do fine."

"Controversial, huh?" They stopped outside of a nondescript classroom, with students already claiming seats.

"We're here to be educated into being the finest young automatons this state can offer, complete with inbuilt prejudice and hate towards anyone who thinks differently. The only reason this school isn't made up of all white Christians from respectable families is because it's illegal. Anything that doesn't fit into their little boxes doesn't exist." The playful tone Collins had started out with had changed to a jaded, bitter tone that made the words sound like ones he had spoken many times before. Angel didn't like the beaten look on Collins… _Tom's _face. He had to say something.

"Even you and I?" Shit, that slipped out. Angel contemplated taking his own life then and there at the way Collins laughed and nervously shuffled, and looked up at Angel with an unguarded look in his eyes.

"Even you and I."

Angel's mouth felt dry. He couldn't… he could… he was so going to…

"Wanna not exist with me at the movies tomorrow night?" Fuck. He said it. The world should end now and save him from whatever fallout him asking a guy at this fancy-ass school would cause.

Collins looked down at the boy before him, with the eyes he could spend the next two hours staring into, and the lips he just wanted to kiss in the hallway. He briefly imagined the scandal that it would cause – shock! A Senior guy kissing a Junior boy! Call the shrinks, they must be broken!

"Movies and dinner?" Collins realized he'd been silent too long and blurted it out in time to see the disappointed look on Angel's face recede into one that could only be described as ecstatic. Angel rifled around in his bag – a satchel, Collins noticed, with a bright rainbow painted on the front – and pulled out a biro, and pulled Collins' computer science book from his grip to scrawl inside the front cover.

"Call me," Angel handed Collins back the book and slipped into the classroom with a delighted grin on his face. It sounded so very Sweet-Valley-High, but he had just gotten his dream date! He definitely had to catch up with Mimi after class.

Collins somehow managed to stumble into the next building and into the computer science classroom without walking into anyone, doing a little dance or jumping up and down like a crazy person. He was grinning like a fool, but that was expected. Angel. It was like a mantra running through his head. He had a date on a Friday night!

Collins settled in front of a computer and made a mental note that when he finally got around to writing his memoirs, today was going to be immortalized in an entire chapter.

"Uh, excuse me." A tall, skinny girl stood before him, a pile of books and her timetable obscuring her face. "Is this S12Computer Science, Room T2?"

"Sure is," Collins watched as the girl dumped the books on the desk and took a seat next to him. "Thomas Collins. Transfer student?"

"Yes. I'm Joanne Jefferson," the girl shook his hand and tapped her password into the computer. "Not because of that school fire. My parents have become partners at the local law firm." She opened the textbook. "I'm from Seattle."

"Must be hard for you to transfer to a new state in the middle of your senior year," Collins commented, and swore that Joanne blushed a little.

"Uh… I think I needed the fresh start," Joanne shrugged; an uneasy air settled over her. "Tabula rasa, as they say. What chapters have you studied?"

Collins prided himself on being excellent at reading people, which is what tended to unnerve them the most. And he could tell that Joanne Jefferson was covering something up and that she tended to be the most comfortable discussing her school work. When the teacher arrived, a deadpan man with an intense coffee addiction, Joanne was focused one hundred percent on the class assignments. Whilst the rest of the class goofed off and surfed the Internet, Joanne was double checking all of her answers in the back of the textbook. The teacher even seemed slightly stunned when she handed in the assignment at the end of the lesson.

"Why did he look so surprised?" Joanne asked Collins as they left class.

"We never hand anything in on time," Collins shrugged. "Generally we just hand him a wad of papers at the end of term, and hope we've covered all the assignments."

Joanne blinked. "_Really_?"

"Really. Graham won't ever mark you down for something being handed in late, especially if you need some downtime," Collins guided Joanne in the direction of their final class for the day.

"Wow," was all Joanne managed. "My old school was kind of strict with our time management."

"Well, at this school, when the teachers yell, the students yell back. Or some of us do," Collins took a seat next to Joanne for their next class, Legal Studies. "Most of them stare slack jawed at the front of the room, reaffirming my prediction that they will, one day, become mindless corporate drones offering free refills at Starbucks while you and I go off to lead the free world."

Joanne laughed, starting to relax. "Sounds good to me."

Collins flashed her a bright smile that was completely inspired by the events of that afternoon. "Me too."

---

"Mimi-chica!" Angel stood in his kitchen, the phone propped between his ear and shoulder as he examined the contents of the fridge. His grandmother had gone off to her weekly bridge game, and left Angel alone to fend for himself that night.

"I'm here. What's up? Ooh, how did everything go with Collins?"

"We're going out tomorrow night."

Angel winced and almost dropped the phone as Mimi squealed. "Oh my god! Oh my god! I'm so happy for you, Angel!"

"What the hell was I even thinking?" Angel shut the fridge door and began to bash his head against it.

"You saw a guy you fell head over heels for and you grabbed opportunity by the balls," Mimi said matter-of-factly.

"Mimi Marquez!"

"It's true though!"

"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Both of them began to laugh. "So, where are you going?"

"Movies and dinner," Angel resumed his hunt for food.

"This is so exciting!" In her own kitchen, Mimi hopped up onto the counter, swinging her legs against the cabinets. "What are you going to wear? Oh, what movie are you going to see? "

"I was thinking about the black jeans I got last week in the city?"

"The ones you put sequins on the belt loops?"

"Yeah. Not too…?"

"What, gay?"

"Mimi, I'm serious. Collins warned me that people here aren't particularly accepting of anyone different."

"Angel, they aren't particularly accepting on our side of town, either. The black jeans with that blue t shirt of yours, and I can lend you that denim jacket I've got."

"Will it fit me?"

"It will, I'll bring it to school tomorrow. Promise me something, Angel."

"Anything, Mimi-chica."

"Don't panic. Don't think about this too much. Make yourself something to eat, do you homework and relax."

"How am I meant to relax!"

"Yoga? I don't know! Agh, Mom wants to use the phone. I'll see you tomorrow, Angel."

"Love you Mimi."

"Love you more."

Angel hung up the phone and sighed before pulling out the ingredients for a toasted sandwich. And there was most of a tub of cherry ice cream left, and there was a Friends marathon starting on T.V. in half an hour.

He was not going to think about his date tomorrow night, especially not that the date in question, a Mister Thomas Collins, was like the most perfect person on the face of the planet. Intellectual and mouth wateringly hot. It was like someone had made him to order!

As Angel watched his dinner cook, a huge smile spread across his face, and he clapped his hands and jumped around the kitchen in a bizarre, happy dance.

"Angelo!" His grandmother appeared in the kitchen door, placing her purse on the table and taking off her coat. "What on earth are you doing in my kitchen?"

"Dinner, Nana."

"And dancing, it seems." Hazel kissed her grandson on his cheek and moved to switch the kettle on. "What has my Angel so happy? His new school? I worried for you and Mimi all day."

"I had an amazing day," Angel hopped up on the counter.

"Really? And little Mimi survived?" Hazel chuckled to herself. Mimi may have been a head shorter than Angel, but it had always been Mimi protecting Angel, since they met in grade school.

"I think so, I forgot to ask," Angel said guiltily.

"Really?" Hazel looked up. "And what, pray tell, inspired this bought of forgetfulness?"

"I met someone."

"Someone?"

"His name is Tom Collins," Angel admitted. His grandmother had never had any trouble with her grandson's sexual identity and had even gone so far as to suggest Angel go out with one of Mimi's brothers when they were in the room. The mere memory of those incidents still made Angel's stomach churn.

"Tom Collins," Hazel repeated; a smile on her face.

"We're going out to a movie and dinner tomorrow night," Angel said.

"Ah. Well, I'm glad your day proved as wonderful as I prayed it would, my dearest. I am going to head off to bed, now. Don't forget to let the cats in before you go to bed."

"I won't."

"Sweet dreams, my Angel."

"Oh, they will be," Angel grinned wickedly at his grandmother, and Hazel laughed, heading upstairs.

* * *


	4. The Plot

**Title:** High School Daze 4/5

**Author: **Girl Who Writes

**Feedback:** is beloved if you feel so inclined.

**Pairing:** Angel/Collins, implied Roger/April, implied Roger/Mimi

**Word Count:** 1981

**Rating:** M

**Genre:** Humour, Drama, Major AU.

**Summary:** New student Angel Dumott-Schaunard catches the eye of Senior Tom Collins, much to the delight of their friends.

**Notes:** I hope everyone is enjoying this fic :D Almost at the end of this particular tale, but part two (as chapters six and seven) will be uploaded June 9th - entitled 'The History Assignment', many of my speed rent co-conspirers will be familiar with it Any suggestions for future stories in this series are gratefully recieved. I have a few ideas, but nothing is set in stone at the moment.

**Special Thanks:** This challenge was set for me by discoapocalypse as part of speed rent, and it was awesome; it got me thinking and out of my comfort zone. I had a lot of crazy fun writing it :D Thank you so much, and I hope this is what you wanted and that you enjoy it!

**Spoilers:** Um... say movie and musical, but this is AU and drastically different.

**Warnings:** Language.

**Disclaimer:** Characters are property of the Jonathan Larson Estate. Hazel and Exodus are my characters.

* * *

"Have a good day, Mimi!" Her brother Exodus called as Mimi jumped out of the car, her bag banging against her side as she ran up to where her locker was. She absolutely had to find Angel! The Big Date was tonight and Mimi had the denim jacket on over her own outfit, and a zip-lock bag of nail polish, eye liner and funky looking wrist bands that Angel could wear. 

"Oof!" Mimi had ran smack into someone, and sent their books flying.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Mimi cried out, reaching for the fallen textbooks. "Are you okay? Mark! It's you!"

"It's me, now with a slight concussion," Mark joked as he fixed his glasses and took his books from Mimi. "Where are you tearing off to?"

"I'm looking for Angel," Mimi grinned and sort of began to bounce up and down, much to Mark's amusement. "Did you hear? Angel and Collins are going out on a date tonight!"

"What?" Mark gaped at her. "Are you serious?"

"Angel called me last night trying to work out what to wear," Mimi was smiling so brightly, she looked like she'd swallowed a star. "Have you seen him?"

"Not this morning. This is huge; I don't think Collins has been out on a date since he moved here."

"Marky!"

Mimi watched with amusement as Maureen materialized by Mark's side, dragging along an unfamiliar girl.

"Hi! I'm Maureen, and this is Joanne," Maureen greeted Mimi before turning to Mark. "Marky! I wanted to introduce you to Joanne – she's a Senior from Seattle."

Mark looked vaguely startled at the sudden appearance of Maureen and Joanne but smiled at Joanne. "Hey, I'm Mark Cohen."

"Nice to meet you, Mark."

"Marky, Roger's looking for you. He's in the library with April and looking kind of desperate," Maureen said. "And why do you look so weird?"

"Collins got a date," Mark repeated automatically. "What's April doing to Roger?"

"Humping his leg, I assume," Maureen flipped her hair over her should. "Collins got a date? Oh this is so awesome! With that cute Spanish transfer? I knew it the minute they saw each other in the library! So adorable! Where are they going?"

"Movie and dinner," Mimi said, clapping her hands. "Isn't it the most excellent thing ever?"

"Best thing that's happened to Collins since he moved here," Mark agreed.

"Ooh, do you know where they're going?" Maureen asked, an evil glint in her eye. "For dinner, I mean."

"I didn't ask," Mimi shook her head.

"It'll probably be the pizza bar across from the cinema," Mark shrugged.

"Yeah," Maureen looked thoughtful. "How do you guys feel like going out for pizza tonight…?"

---

Angel stood in front of the mirror on the back of his bedroom door. He hadn't seen Collins at school that day, and Mark had mentioned that Collins usually spent his Fridays in the A.V. labs, working on a project for his English class, because he had so many free periods. Seeing Collins on a Friday usually meant that Armageddon was upon them. Or – much worse – the school's computer network had crashed again.

So, Angel had been jumpy and nervous all day – he'd walked into the wrong class and not known for the first twenty minutes, he'd handed his English teacher his Spanish paper and vice versa, and he'd walked into a pole outside his locker, that cause many people to mock him. That had been the worst incident of the day because Angel was terrified he'd be bruised and swollen for his date.

"There's not even a red mark anymore, Angel," Mimi said, from her position on his bed, as she painted her toes. "I promise you. Ask Hazel if you don't believe me."

"I can see it as clear as day, Mimi!" Angel freaked out. "Do you have any cover up?"

"In my bag. The red tube," Mimi sighed. "Let me do it, silly boy."

"And if you walked into a metal pole the afternoon before your date with, let's see, Roger, you wouldn't be shrieking for cover-up?" Angel smirked at the faint blush that coloured Mimi's cheeks.

"Roger has a girlfriend," Mimi said, as she pretended to smooth the foundation over Angel's nose. The tiny amount she actually had on her fingers was insignificant. "Her name is April."

"The scary redhead who spends all her class time writing exceptionally bad poetry on her jeans?" Angel asked skeptically.

"The technical term is 'emo'," Mimi said, jamming her cover-up back in her pocket. "Done."

"I can't believe you actually think I think you actually put any on me," Angel put his hands on his hips.

"There's no mark! You don't need it!" Mimi flopped back onto Angel's bed. "It's also quarter to seven."

"Fuck."

"Angelo!" Hazel appeared in the doorway. "I did not hear what I just heard, did I?"

"Nope," Angel snatched up Mimi's denim jacket.

"Perfect," Mimi handed Angel his wallet and keys. "What movie are you seeing?"

"Uh, that new one," Angel said distractedly.

"Oh, that one," Hazel said, exchanging amused looks with Mimi.

"The one set in the 50s in Europe," Angel sighed. "I'm going crazy."

"You're nervous! I threw up five times the first night I went out with your grandfather. Now go, or that lovely date of yours will have a broken heart!" Hazel kissed Angel good bye, and turned to Mimi, as she heard Angel run downstairs and out the front door.

"Now, Mimi, have you got plans tonight, or should I order us both some dinner?" Hazel sat next to the girl.

"Oh no, I'm going for pizza with some people I met at school," Mimi said innocently. "Mom's happy I'm actually making friends this time around."

"You go have fun, sweetie," Hazel patted Mimi's arm. "And we'll see you for Sunday brunch."

* * *


	5. The Date

**Title:** High School Daze 5/5

**Author: **Girl Who Writes

**Feedback:** is beloved if you feel so inclined.

**Pairing:** Angel/Collins, implied Roger/April, implied Roger/Mimi

**Word Count:** 1981

**Rating:** M

**Genre:** Humour, Drama, Major AU.

**Summary:** New student Angel Dumott-Schaunard catches the eye of Senior Tom Collins, much to the delight of their friends.

**Notes: **This chapter is sadly the end of the first story. Chapter Six will be the second story, and will be posted June 9th. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, and please let me know what you liked and hated, and what things you'd like to see the group get up to in school, for future chapters; really, I want to write something everyone will enjoy. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Special Thanks:** This challenge was set for me by discoapocalypse as part of speed rent, and it was awesome; it got me thinking and out of my comfort zone. I had a lot of crazy fun writing it :D Thank you so much, and I hope this is what you wanted and that you enjoy it!

**Spoilers:** Um... say movie and musical, but this is AU and drastically different.

**Warnings:** Language.

**Disclaimer:** Characters are property of the Jonathan Larson Estate. Hazel and Exodus are my characters.

* * *

Collins stood outside of the cinema, feeling incredibly conspicuous as people walked past him. The movie started in ten minutes, where was Angel? The traitorous little voice in the back of his mind was chanting, 'Stood up! Stood up! You've been stood up!' with varying degrees of evilness. No, Angel was just running late. It happened to the best of them at times. 

"Tom."

Collins turned around to see Angel jogging towards him, with a smile on his face.

"Sorry I'm late, Mimi and my grandmother…" Angel trailed off and shrugged.

"No problem," Collins smiled and they walked into the cinema together. "Are you a popcorn person, or a Choc-Top sort of person?"

"Choc-Top," Angel grinned. "You've found my weakness, Tom – ice cream. You can never be too sweet."

Angel felt a little bad that Collins paid for their movie tickets and ice creams, but vowed that he'd pay for dinner; Collins had mentioned a pizza bar that was close to the cinema complex.

They settled into seats towards the back of the theatre, and chatted about other movies they'd seen recently, before the lights dimmed. Angel mentally cursed him self for not suggesting they go to dinner first; he didn't want to see this movie anymore, he wanted to talk and get to know Collins more. It seemed weird and almost awkward that they'd be sitting in a movie theatre for two hours without saying anything. Would Collins kiss him? Would he kiss Collins?

Angel mentally sighed, took a bite of his ice cream and tried to focus on the movie.

---

The movie had been fun, Collins thought as the credits began to roll. There hadn't been many people in the cinema; the film had been a little too avant-garde to attract a huge audience. But it had been funny and smart, and he and Angel had snuck looks at each other during all the funny parts, to see if the other was laughing.

So far, this was an absolutely perfect first date.

"So, did you like it?" Angel smiled up at him as they made their way onto the street.

"For a new director, I was suitably impressed," Collins said. "The scriptwriter deserves the nominations she's received, too. Definitly something I'll have to see again."

"Did you see the costumes? That dress that the spy was wearing in the last scene apparently cost seventy thousand dollars and was designed by Dior!" Angel's enthusiasm for the costuming of the film lead him to stumbling and almost toppling into the gutter.

"Woah!" Collins grabbed Angel's arms and righted him, Angel blushing with embarrassment.

"I'm so damn clumsy, I swear I caught it off of Mimi; that girl is a disaster waiting to happen," Angel blurted out, suddenly very aware that Collins was still holding onto him.

"You're cute when you blush." The words were out of Collins' mouth before he could stop them.

Angel's eyes widened and he smiled; an intimate smile Collins hadn't seen before but liked. "Thanks."

Collins didn't let go of him either; he grabbed Angel's hand. "I… haven't got any idea of what I was about to say."

Angel laughed. "Okay. Tell me about this A.V. project you're working on that Mark mentioned. It sounds interesting."

The walk to the pizza bar was short, and after they both relaxed, they found it easy to talk to one another – Collins aspired to one day help bring down social barriers through education – possibly a college professor, because he loved to learn and loved to teach. Angel admitted he had absolutely no idea what he truly wanted to do, except that it would probably involved art and design, because he loved it. They both loved musicals and avant-garde film.

"This is it," Collins swung open the door of the pizza place, and they walked in. "This has been fun. I should thank you for inviting me, because I never would have gotten up the courage to ask you."

"I admit, the second after I asked you out was followed by blind panic," Angel grinned, as the smile fell off of Collins' face. "What's the matter?" He turned around to the back table, where a bunch of teenagers were obscured by menus, except for one, who was filming them.

"Oh god," Angel groaned. "I should've asked my grandmother to keep Mimi busy tonight. I am so sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Collins reassured him. "Roger and Mark and… Maureen? Joanne? … are there too. Our friends are too god damned nosy for their own business."

"Should we pretend we haven't seen them or should we just join in the group effort?" Angel asked, with a smile.

"Come on," Collins hook his head and lead Angel over to the group's table. "Nothing better to do on a Friday night, huh?"

Five guilty looking faces appeared from behind the menus and camera.

"Mimi," Angel shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but it was Maureen's idea!" Mimi wailed, with a glint in her eye. "How was the movie?"

"Was the cinematography as good as the critics are saying?" Mark lit up at the discussion of the film.

"I heard that the book that inspired the movie paled in comparison; apparently the author lacked the ability to make her characters really come alive," Joanne added, intrigued by the topic.

Two pizzas, a round of ice cream and a walk through the park to where Roger and Maureen had parked their cars later, Collins and Angel were once again left alone.

"I'm sorry they interrupted our plans," Collins sighed. "They're amazing friends, but…."

"Don't be sorry," Angel shook his head. "It was a lot of fun. Marky's really stuck on Maureen, huh?"

"For the last five years," Collins agreed. "Mimi seems pretty taken with Roger."

"She's an amazing girl; he'd be lucky to have her," Angel grabbed Collins' hand. "So…"

"So…"

"I had a really amazing time tonight," Angel stopped, and span around so he was face to face with Collins'. "Despite the change of plans. Maybe we could do it again…"

Collins grinned. "What are you doing tomorrow night?" he asked in a low voice, intended for Angel's ears only.

"Going out with you, now," Angel replied, and there, in the middle of the park, with the fountain lit up behind them, Collins kissed him. A kiss that made Angel forget which way was up, and what his name was. Tom Collins was someone Angel just knew that he could trust with all his secrets and all his fears. This was right.

"Wow," was all Angel could manage to say. Collins grinned at him and took his hand.

"Want me to take you home?" Collins asked as they began walking again.

"Sure," Angel grinned up at him wickedly. "Your home or mine?"

* * *


	6. The Assignment

**Title:** The History Assignment  
**Author:** Girl Who Writes  
**Feedback:** is beloved if you feel so inclined  
**Pairing:** Angel/Collins, with a little bit of Mimi/Roger and Maureen/Mark, implied Roger/April.  
**Word Count:** 4 550  
**Rating:** PG  
**Genre:** Humour, AU  
**Summary:** The Junior History class is assigned a project, much to the dismay of Maureen, Mark, Roger and Angel, so they plan a study party. With not much studying.  
**Notes:** I'm back! Apologies for being late; my ADSL died for a bit there. But I'm back with three new chapters! I also need some suggestions with the upcoming parts; would you like to hear more about their families? About Alison and April? I'd really love some input! So, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and don't forget to show the review button some love.  
**Special Thanks:** to my beautiful rabbits, Harriet and Blossom, who agreed to guest star in this in exchange for some parsley.  
**Spoilers:** It's AU, so nothing much.  
**Warnings:** Language.  
**Disclaimer:** Rent and the related characters are property of the Jonathan Larson Estate and I make no profit from my fan-based ventures. Hazel Dumott and Mimi's brothers, plus all classmates and teachers are mine.

* * *

Maureen Johnson stormed through the halls of the school, her bag banging against the backs of her legs as she emerged outside in the quadrangle where students were finding their lunches and sitting down. A pair of seventh graders went to sit down at the picnic table that she traditionally sat at with her friends, but she slammed her pile of books down on it. 

"Scram!" Maureen flipped her hair open and took a seat, pulling out her lunch – a slightly crushed juice box and a squished tuna sandwich, a dark look on her face. This was not happening.

"Maureen!" Mark jogged over to the table, tossing his books on top of hers and promptly making them all slide off the table and onto the concrete. "What's up?"

"What's up!" Maureen tossed down her sandwich, and leant over the table. "Mark Cohen, how can you ask me that? Mackenzie assigns us such a disgusting, abominating thing and then makes me work with _April Ericsson_? Are you high or just slow, MARK?"

"If you hadn't stormed out of history, you would have heard what she said at the end, Mo," Roger appeared behind Mark with Angel. "If we hate our partners that much, we can switch. Mark got paired with Nicola, and she almost had a screaming fit."

"I felt so loved," Mark began picking up the fallen books. "Anyway, Maureen, you're my partner now. Nicola's with April now."

"There's an assignment I'd like to read," Angel took a seat opposite Maureen. "Neither are the brightest lights in the room."

"Who did you two get paired up with?" Maureen asked.

"Me and Roger are working together," Angel pulled his history book out of his bag, the assignment sheet stuck in the middle of it. "We get to pick anything in the book from Chapters 1 to 3. We can submit a written report of three thousand words, or present a ten minute dramatic report that must include a speech that includes factual evidence – two groups can combine to work on a dramatic presentation, but we'll be marked on a harder scale if we do drama. So, what are we doing?"

"If you think I'm writing another god-damned paper, you're high," Roger said around a mouthful of potato chips. "Give me a sword and I'll recreate some war or battle."

"We could stick Maureen in a crown and recreate the fall of the Romanov dynasty," Mark suggested, sitting down next to Roger. At the three questioning looks, he rolled his eyes. "Russia? Chapter 2?"

"Oh."

"Dynasty?"

"A crown?"

"What's up, bitches?" Collins and Joanne appeared at the head of the table, both laden down with books. Joanne looked significantly less stressed out that she had when she first transferred, but still harassed.

"History assignment," Angel beamed up at his boyfriend, and motioned for Collins and Joanne to sit down. Roger looked up at Collins, like a cartoon character who'd had an idea, with a little light bulb hovering over his head.

"Hey, Collins, you're topping History, aren't you?" Roger gave him a broad grin.

"No, Davis, I am not writing your paper for you. I have enough work of my own to do. No amount of sexual favors will change my mind," Collins replied pleasantly, grabbing Angel's hand and squeezing it affectionately.

"My partner's your boyfriend."

"So, those sexual favors you were offering…" Angel swatted Collins' shoulder.

"We can write some sort of play about Russia this weekend," Angel said. "History's not exactly my strength though."

"If we combined all our class marks and worked out the average," Mark sighed, "We'd barely pass."

"You're what, second in the class, Cohen?" Maureen crushed her juice box and gave Mark a pouty look.

"Fifth."

"Who is top?"

"Uhh…"

"Um…"

"Say April and I'll hurt you all."

"Her mom's a history professor, Mo, of course she's got a perfect grade."

"Fuck." Maureen dropped her head to the wooden table. "If I don't get a better grade in history than last year, my parents will make me drop out of my theatre group."

"What mark did you get last year?" Roger snatched up one of Collins' cookies.

"A forty-three. Mackenzie called my father and read my exam paper out loud to him," Maureen mumbled. "Why does April have to have such a stunted personality, damnit!"

"She hasn't got a stunted personality!" Roger said defensively.

"Please, like you know about April's personality," Maureen scoffed, rummaging around her bag for her purse. "I'd be surprised if you even exchange pleasantries before you exchange bodily fluids." She flaunted off in search of ice cream, while all eyes were on Roger.

"She means saliva," Roger shook his head. "We have to use Maureen in this?"

"Yes," Mark said firmly. "It'll be easy – we write a plan and narrate it with statistics and stuff. It'll be easy. We can do it on Sunday, it'll take twenty minutes."

"We already established none of us are much good at history, Mark," Angel shrugged. "Unless… Collins, Joanne, are you doing anything Sunday…?"

---

Maureen returned from the cafeteria with an ice cream in one hand and Mimi following her, chatting animatedly about something.

"Mimi-chica!" Angel shuffled up so Mimi could sit down, and gave her a hug. "I haven't seen you all day!"

"Oh, I've been around," Mimi offered a shy smile in the direction of Roger, who smiled back at her, and promptly spilt Coke down his sweatshirt. "I met a really nice guy in the computer labs, too. A senior."

"Ooh, chica, what's his name?" Angel almost clapped his hands. Mimi had been trying to get over the fact that April had claimed Roger for herself, and move on, but anyone with eyes could see that they both liked each other _very_ much. But despite the fact Angel pointed out that Roger liked her back, Mimi had simply said she didn't want to get a bad reputation at a new school that she actually kind of liked – especially since April was a Junior when Mimi herself was a sophomore.

"Benny Coffin?"

"Hate to tell you this Mimi, but I have Legal Studies with Alison Grey, and they've been together for three years now," Joanne looked sympathetically at Mimi. "According to others, Benny's a bit of a jackass and Ally's too… too gentle, I guess, to tell him to stop flirting with every female on campus."

"Agh." Mimi slumped next to Angel. "The ratio of guys to girls at this school is out of whack. Someone change the subject."

"You need food, chica," Angel patted Mimi's leg. "You bring anything?"

"No," Mimi's face darkened in annoyance. "My brothers cleaned out the kitchen this morning. I was lucky to get toast. You got any money? I'll pay you back at the end of the week."

"Come on, my treat," Angel pulled some money from his pocket. "Cupcakes and bright orange soda for both of us, because you keep picking ineligible guys and I've been assigned the mother of all history projects."

"Well," Maureen sighed, sitting up. "I've gotta go and see the Drama Department about the Spring Musical."

"What is it this year?" Joanne asked. "I'd like to help out behind the scenes; it's a lot of fun and looks great on your transcript."

"The students are lobbying for something written by the students, but the faculty wants to do something like Fame," Maureen shrugged. "The audition is on a day I have a singing exam, so I need to check that it's okay if I do mine the next day."

"So, are we coming over on Sunday?" Roger asked. "For History?"

"Sure," Maureen shrugged. "I'll be at theatre until ten, though."

"We'll be there around eleven then," Mark smiled up at Maureen.

"Great. Give everyone my home address. I'll see you guys in I.T." And Maureen flounced off in exactly the same manner she'd arrived, except with a smile on her face.

* * *


	7. The Study Party

**Title:** The History Assignment  
**Author:** Girl Who Writes  
**Feedback:** is beloved if you feel so inclined  
**Pairing:** Angel/Collins, with a little bit of Mimi/Roger and Maureen/Mark, implied Roger/April.  
**Word Count:** 4 550  
**Rating:** PG  
**Genre:** Humour, AU  
**Summary:** The Junior History class is assigned a project, much to the dismay of Maureen, Mark, Roger and Angel, so they plan a study party. With not much studying.  
**Notes:** I know that the last chapter didn't have much action, but I had to break these two up somewhere. I hope you enjoy this chapter!  
**Special Thanks:** to my beautiful rabbits, Harriet and Blossom, who agreed to guest star in this in exchange for some parsley.  
**Spoilers:** It's AU, so nothing much.  
**Warnings:** Language.  
**Disclaimer:** Rent and the related characters are property of the Jonathan Larson Estate and I make no profit from my fan-based ventures. Hazel Dumott and Mimi's brothers, plus all classmates and teachers are mine.

* * *

"Woah," Mimi leant over the front seats in Collins' car to stare. "That's Maureen's _house_?" 

"That's the Johnson Estate," Collins said jokingly – when Collins had picked up Angel, he'd swung by Mimi's place too – none of her brothers had felt inclined to give her a ride.

Maureen's house was an enormous white and grey house that sat behind a high black fence. The garden was made up of immaculately trimmed hedges and fountains.

"This is amazing," Angel exchanged looks with Mimi. Both lived in much smaller houses over in a slightly crappier suburb.

"Wait till you get inside," Collins pulled up out the front, behind Joanne's car. "Roger and Mark probably walked over."

"Mark and Roger live in houses like this?" Mimi squeaked.

"Hell no," Collins grabbed his history books that he'd brought around; he'd read some of the history papers written by Roger and Mark, and realized they needed all the help they could get.

It was Mrs. Johnson – "Call me Nancy" – who opened the door. "Maureen's out in the pool house with the others," she smiled. "Straight through that hallway, and out the back – you know the way, Tom."

Mimi and Angel followed Collins though the house in awed silence. All the floors were polished wood, the walls cream coloured, with expensive paintings and mirrors hanging everywhere. They passed a dining room with a chandelier, and a room with a television that took up most of the wall. It was very different from their homes – in Mimi's house, her four brothers shared two rooms, and there was always an argument after dinner about who washed up. Angel's grandmother's home was more than big enough for the two of them, but it was an old home and cluttered with objects from Hazel Dumott's lifetime. This house belonged on the front of glossy magazines.

The back garden was no different – they walked out to an amazing, bright blue swimming pool. Straight ahead was a lawn, with neatly manicured flower beds. Next to the pool was what Mimi and Angel assumed to be the pool house – a square room, with the front wall made of glass.

Maureen, Roger, Mark and Joanne were sitting on the floor of the pool house – which was carpeted in a thick white carpet so soft looking, Mimi longed to kick off her shoes and sink her feet into it. A pile of books sat haphazardly on the coffee table, completely ignored.

"Hey guys!" Maureen beamed at them as they walked in, clutching something to her chest.

"What's that?" Angel frowned at the wriggling, fluffy thing.

"Oh, my Uncle's a vet, and someone dumped a box of domestic rabbits out the front of the surgery this morning – all babies," Maureen held up the soft white bunny, it's little ears pricking up in the direction of Angel and Mimi. "He found homes for all except two, so he brought them over this morning. How cute are they?"

"Can I have a cuddle?" Mimi squealed.

"Uh huh – Roger's got Harriet and I've got Blossom," Maureen held out the bunny to Mimi.

"Oh, they're so precious!" Mimi cradled the bunny in her arms. "I would love to have rabbits."

"I could call my Uncle…"

"Oh, I'm not allowed. I've got a cat," Mimi handed Blossom the Bunny to Angel, and brushed the white hair off of her t shirt, before taking a seat on the carpet next to Roger, sneaking looks at him.

"Are you sure we should have them inside, with this carpet?" Joanne asked uneasily.

Maureen shrugged. "My Mom doesn't care if I bring the other animals inside. The rabbits shouldn't be any different." As if on cue, Harriet the Bunny looked Roger in the eye, twitched her nose and promptly peed on him.

"Oh shit! That's gross!" Roger half tossed the rabbit into Mimi's lap, jumping up. Angel clapped his hand over his mouth at the yellow stain on the snow white carpet.

"Eww," Maureen made a face. "We better put them back in the hutch. I'll tell Mom Roger had an accident."

"MAUREEN!"

"I meant with the rabbit, you idiot. Geez."

It took half an hour for them to settle back down – Maureen promptly introduced the group to her father's two Dalmatians, her mother's Persian cats, her own cat, the goldfish in the ornamental pond and the family's prized finches.

"It's like a farm," Angel said, putting down Paisley the cat. "A really fancy farm."

Collins snorted with laughter, and wrapped his arm around his boyfriend. "It'd have to be – Maureen lives here."

"Shut up, Roger."

"Hey! I didn't say anything!"

"Oh, sorry. I can smell you from here, so I'm just going to blame you for everything, okay?"

"It was YOUR rabbit that PEED on ME!"

"Obviously you were mean to her or something. She didn't pee on me or Mark or Mimi or Joanne. Maybe she just doesn't like people with names beginning with R."

"Or maybe she needed to pee and she's only a baby and doesn't know that Roger's not her litter box," Joanne said soothingly.

Maureen shrugged. "Oh well. But hey, you should probably know, once a rabbit has peed in one place, they consider that to be the bathroom forever and ever. You might want to burn your outfit."

"Fuck."

"Ooh, I know," Maureen's face lit up. "We can go swimming!"

"Uh, history assignment?" Mark piped up.

"Oh, it'll take us like ten minutes. Let's go swimming!" Maureen bounced off.

"Oooh, yes!" Mimi clapped her hands, Angel, Mark and Roger glaring at her. "What? It's not my history project. Except I don't have my swim suit."

"Maureen's got a basketful of them for all of us," Roger replied, perking up at the idea of Mimi in a bikini. "Her mom is like a clinically obsessed shopper."

Roger was right – Maureen hurled out a picnic basket bursting to the gills with swimsuits, sun safety shirts and beach towels. Before long, Maureen had doled out swimsuits to everyone, and then ducked up to her bedroom to get her own.

"Really, who in this world owns this many pairs of spare bikinis?" Joanne said, looking down at herself and shaking her head.

"Someone who must be very, very happy," Mimi sighed, from where she was floating a top an inflatable raft, one leg hanging in the water. "Can you imagine living here?"

"Mimi, if you and I lived here, we would never emerge," Angel said, from where he and Collins were huddled on the pool steps.

Roger and Mark exchanged looks but didn't say a word. In an almost cliché fashion, Maureen had been desperately unhappy as a kid, living in the Ice Palace, as she called it – Maureen had never had many friends as a kid; she'd met most of her friends because of Mark. Mr. Johnson was completely overworked, and Nancy Johnson stretched herself thin with benefits and charity lunches. But Maureen never condemned them – if anything she shrugged and turned to the closest person, usually Mark, to join in with the fun. Mrs. Cohen had always said Maureen would have been much happier if she hadn't been an only child.

Maureen returned in a candy striped bikini. "Mom's gone out, so we have free reign of the house," she said with a grin. "And she's having all the carpets cleaned on Monday, so it's not a huge crime, Roger. Mom thinks you might want to talk to someone, though."

"I promise you, if you make that joke one more time, I will personally wait till those rabbits are fully grown and then turn them into dinner," Roger half growled from his position in a pool chair, admiring Mimi from beneath his sunglasses.

"Fine," Maureen huffed.

An hour later, the group emerged from the pool, and the three girls (and Angel) went off to shower, whilst Collins, Mark and Roger sat in the sun with the textbooks and some highlighters.

"Do a scene with Czarina Alexandra and Rasputin, so Maureen can go all out," Collins advised. "And the peasant rebellion. You'll need a pretty good speech to back all of this up, though."

"Tell me about it," Mark said gloomily, paging through his textbook.

"Hey guys!" Maureen reappeared with Mimi, Angel and Joanne in tow. "Do you wanna go out and grab something to eat? We're starving."

The boys looked down at the books spread out in front of them.

"I could go for a burger," Roger shrugged, standing up. "We can grab some lunch and finish this later on."

Collins and Mark exchanged looks, and shrugged. Food did sound good. And after all, it wasn't Collins' history grade on the line…


	8. The Last Minute Dash

**Title:** The History Assignment  
**Author:** Girl Who Writes  
**Feedback:** is beloved if you feel so inclined  
**Pairing:** Angel/Collins, with a little bit of Mimi/Roger and Maureen/Mark, implied Roger/April.  
**Word Count:** 4 550  
**Rating:** PG  
**Genre:** Humour, AU  
**Summary:** The Junior History class is assigned a project, much to the dismay of Maureen, Mark, Roger and Angel, so they plan a study party. With not much studying.  
**Notes:** Okay, this is the end of this particular story - chapters 9 onwards will be posted June 30th. Once again, if there's anything you want to see, just let me know!  
**Special Thanks:** to my beautiful rabbits, Harriet and Blossom, who agreed to guest star in this in exchange for some parsley.  
**Spoilers:** It's AU, so nothing much.  
**Warnings:** Language.  
**Disclaimer:** Rent and the related characters are property of the Jonathan Larson Estate and I make no profit from my fan-based ventures. Hazel Dumott and Mimi's brothers, plus all classmates and teachers are mine.

* * *

They decided against driving to the mall – it wasn't that long a walk, and none of them had enough money for gas that they would drive when they could walk just as easily. 

The mall was pretty good considering it wasn't the city – the basement floor had a food court and a supermarket, and then three floors of shops. Maureen and Mimi's eyes lit up as they took the escalator down to the food court, catching sight of the new shop displays.

"Ooh," Mimi turned around to Angel. "Did you see the purple jacket?"

"Mimi," Angel nudged her side. "You don't need another jacket."

"I don't have a purple one," Mimi pouted.

"Like you could afford that jacket," Angel shook his head. Mimi shrugged and stood on her toes to see the rest of the displays. She stumbled on the escalator steps and would have fallen if Roger hadn't caught her.

"Thanks," Mimi right herself, blushing. "I don't get to come here much."

"Nah, it's okay," Roger grinned up at her. "My sister comes here heaps, and she's much worse than you."

They claimed a few tables and discussed their lunch options.

"I'm getting a cheeseburger," Roger gazed up at the lit-up menus.

"Ooh, tacos," Maureen trotted off to the taco bar.

"Tacos do sound good," Mark said, Joanne nodding, and both followed Maureen over.

"I'm going to see the noodle bar," Angel smiled up at Collins. "What to come?" And they both walked off, leaving Roger and Mimi alone.

"I might get a burger too," Mimi shrugged. "Might as well."

The burger bar was much faster than the others, and Mimi and Roger found themselves back at the tables with their food before anyone else.

"That looks really bad," Mimi grinned as Roger lifted the cheeseburger to his mouth.

"Yeah, but it's like God's gift to food," Roger took a huge bite. "Want some?"

Mimi wrinkled her nose and shook her head, popping some fries into her mouth. "I didn't know you had a sister," she said suddenly, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah, Lindsey. She's younger than me – she's twelve," Roger shrugged. "You have brothers?"

"Three of them," Mimi took a sip of her drink. "There's Tony, Tristan, Exodus and me. Mom's a bit obsessed with musicals and operas."

"Really? I didn't notice," Roger teased her, and Mimi flicked a fry at him. "So, you don't get to come out here much?"

"Nah. Mom and Dad are too busy to take me out anywhere, I haven't got my license yet, and my brothers won't ever give me a lift anywhere," Mimi shrugged. "And Angel feels awkward going shopping in this town. Usually, Hazel – Angel's grandmother – takes us up to the city at the beginning of summer but summer is a long way away."

"Well, if you ever wanted to come out here and, I dunno, shop or see a movie, I could give you a ride," Roger shrugged, suddenly very focused on his lunch.

Mimi blinked, and resisted the urge to clap and grin like a fool. "Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, it'd be fun."

"What about your girlfriend?" Mimi blurted out and instantly wished that everyone else would come back.

"What?" Roger gave her a confused look.

"April?"

"Oh, yeah. She's not my girlfriend. Just ignore April," Roger shrugged. "She's harmless. I'll deal with her."

"Okay," Mimi offered a smile to Roger and they began chatting randomly about school.

"You think they've had their moment?" Mark murmured to where they all stood, obscured by a stand selling bubble tea, picking at their lunch.

"I think we should've found somewhere else to sit instead of standing here like idiots," Joanne said matter-of-factly.

"Probably," Collins agreed. "Come on, if we don't go back, they're going to guess something is up."

"Took you guys long enough," Roger said, crumpling his napkin on the tray. "What, they have to catch the cow to make the tacos?"

"Ew," Maureen wrinkled her nose, before digging into her food.

"They screwed up our orders," Mark shrugged. "You do realize ingesting that much cheese and meat at every meal will eventually kill you, Roger."

"Eh. I'll leave behind a beautiful corpse."

"Not if you keep eating that shit."

"Oh, and what are you eating?"

"Bean tacos," Mark smirked.

Lunch degenerated into Mark and Roger exchanging insults, and Angel and Collins flicking snow peas from their noodles at each other.

"Can we go upstairs for a moment?" Mimi looked hopeful. "I just want to see that jacket."

"They've got a new shoe display at Cosmo Shoes, too," Maureen perked up. "Just ten minutes, we swear."

To be fair, in the end, it wasn't the girls' never ending pursuits for shopping that made ten minutes into two hours – Maureen had to look at the new shoes, Mark and Collins wanted to look in the electronics shop, Joanne picked up some books at Borders and Angel and Mimi decided to try on hats in the department store.

By the time they got back to the Johnson's house, it was almost six, and no one much felt like writing a history play, so somehow they ended up in the 'screening room', watching movies and flicking the popcorn Nancy Johnson had made them at each other.

"Guys, it's almost nine," Collins stretched and looked around. "We really need to throw together your assignment."

"Uh, I gotta go home," Mimi looked uncomfortable. "I promised Mom I'd be home by nine. Mo, can I use your phone to call home?"

"I can give you a lift home, Mimi," Joanne stood up. "My parents are leaving on a business trip tomorrow morning before dawn, so I should get home and see them off. You guys don't mind, do you?"

"Nah," Roger shook his head. "Mo, we might as well call home and say we're staying here tonight?"

"Go ahead," Maureen stood up. "I'll go tell Mom you guys are staying."

So the group moved the project upstairs to Maureen's room – a white and pink room so huge that Angel could've sworn that his grandmother's kitchen and living room would've fit inside.

"Okay," Mark sat down, "opening scene is Czar Nicholas marrying Alexandra. Mo, you can be Alexandra, Roger can be Nicholas and Angel and I'll read out something about the marriage…"

"Break it into three segments of the fall of the Romanovs, around three minutes each," Collins advised from where he was examining Maureen's dolls. "Jesus, Mo, what is wrong with this doll?"

"That's Nadia," Maureen looked defensive. "What's wrong with Nadia?"

"Other than the huge fucking scary eyes?" Mark observed.

"That doll looks like it just saw someone brutally murder everything it knew or loved in front of her and has nothing left to look forward to other then stabbing you in your sleep with a pair of scissors," Roger shook his head. "How the hell do you sleep in the same room as it?"

"Guys," Angel spoke up. "We really need to write these speeches. And find some king and queen clothes for Roger and Mo."

"Okay," Maureen turned back. "Let's do this."

---

When Nancy Johnson knocked on Maureen's door to wake her daughter up for school the next morning, she was presented with a scene that would have been exceptionally odd if she hadn't seen it a dozen or so times before.

Maureen, Roger and Mark were piled into Maureen's bed, all completely asleep. Maureen had also pulled out the trundle bed, and the other two – Tom and Angel – were curled up together on that. A pile of slightly smudged papers sat on Maureen's bedside table.

"Guys, time for school!" Nancy knocked on the door, a smile on her face.

"Wha?" Maureen sat up instantly.

"It's seven, Mo," Nancy walked across the room to open the curtains. "I'll get you guys some breakfast. Let them know they can use the bathroom in my room, too, honey."

Maureen nodded and jabbed Mark – who had been curled up against her side the whole time – in the ribs.

"Time to get up, guys."

"Oww."

"Mooo," Roger groaned into the pillow. "What fucking time is it?"

"Seven."

"I've been asleep for three hours," Roger tugged the pink and white quilt over his head.

"Mom's making us breakfast. We need to go. History is first this morning," Maureen stumbled towards her bathroom. "Get Collins and Angel up, would you?"

---

Forty minutes later, all of them were showered and slumped around the kitchen table as Nancy made them pancakes and orange juice.

"You guys stayed up too late, talking, didn't you?" Nancy smiled at the exhausted looking bunch.

"Working on the history project," Maureen picked at her breakfast. It had been a long morning – organizing showers and spare clothes for four boys hadn't been exactly easy. Mark had some old jeans he'd left there awhile back, and Roger had some clothes in his locker at school. Collins had shrugged and borrowed a clean shirt of Maureen's father's. Angel had been lucky enough to fit into a pair of Maureen's jeans, and one of her t shirts that didn't look too feminine – it was green with a graffiti design all over the front.

"You'll all do just great, I know," Nancy wiped down the counter. "Your father's at work already, Mo, and I have to race off to help Bethany Gold with the Cancer Research lunch. You guys are okay to get yourselves to school."

"Collins has his car," Maureen pushed her plate away and buried her face in her hands.

"Great! See you tonight honey. Nice having you all here, guys."

"I vote we clean up, and then go and buy coffees and Cokes," Mark stood up, stacking plates.

"Agreed," Maureen yawned. "How the hell are we going to give the presentation when we can barely stand up straight?"

"Coke is practically endorsed by universities and high schools these days," Collins shrugged.

Half an hour later, Maureen, Mark, Roger and Angel piled into their history classroom. Many people had commented to them they looked like walking zombies, which had resulted in Roger flinging a variety of random swear words and threats in their direction.

"I wanna go home," Angel mumbled, resting his head on his desk.

"This is going to go so badly," Maureen wailed from where she had her head rested on Mark's shoulder, but Mark was too tired to truly enjoy it.

"Hello a failing mark in history," Roger said morosely.

"Hi guys!" Mr. Savage, the school's vaguely psychotic English teacher walked in. "Yes, this is your history class. Sadly Miss Mackenzie has been called away thanks to a family emergency today, and your history project presentation has been rescheduled for this Friday, after lunch. Now, there's no one available to supervise this class today, so you all have to go up to the library, and study quietly."

As the rest of the class got up to leave, four figures sat, looking completely dumbfounded.

"This is so not happening," Maureen said flatly.

"Oh, it's happening, chica," Angel moaned.

"Fu-uck," Roger began banging his head against the desk.

"I need sleep," Mark said matter-of-factly, and stood up, almost causing Maureen to topple off of her chair. "You know the old Senior common room?"

"The one they store old drama props and sets in?" Maureen looked up.

"Yeah. The old couches are in there," Mark stuffed his books in his bag. "What do you say?"

"A nap on a smelly old couch has never sounded so good," Roger said. "Lead the way."


	9. The Weekend

**Title: **The Invitation

**Author: **Girl Who Writes

**Feedback:** is beloved if you feel so inclined.

**Pairing:**

**Word Count:** 1965

**Rating:** M

**Genre:** Humour, Drama, Major AU.

**Summary:** Mimi likes Roger. Roger likes Mimi. But it's definitely not a date.

**Notes: **Okay, first up I'd like to apologize to everyone who started reading Chapter 9: Secrets and Lies; I wanted to put this chapter first for more development and because I have a story arc for this fic that needs this chapter. Secrets and Lies will be back as Chapter 10 or 11, and is very dramatic. It puts The O.C. to shame

Secondly, I know original characters are as annoying as hell. But because this is an AU, the characters need families, and I tried to make them interesting but still very much 'background noise'.

I hope you enjoy this chapter, I apologize for posting it so much later than I planned, but Reality kicked in. The next update will be as soon as I finish editing the next chapter.

**Special Thanks:** This challenge was set for me by discoapocalypse as part of speed rent, and it was awesome; it got me thinking and out of my comfort zone. I had a lot of crazy fun writing it :D Thank you so much, and I hope this is what you wanted and that you enjoy it!

**Spoilers:** Um... say movie and musical, but this is AU and drastically different.

**Warnings:** Language.

**Disclaimer:** All recognizable characters are property of the Jonathan Larson Estate. The Marquez and Davis families are my characters.

---

Gloria Marquez looked up from where she was stacking the breakfast plates into the dishwasher, the sound of yet another argument reaching her ears. Sighing and wiping her hand on a tea towel, Gloria made her way into the lounge room where her eldest and youngest were almost nose to nose, both yelling obscenities at each other.

"Enough!" Gloria yelled over the din. "Tony! Mimi!"

"I am not watching another freaking soap opera!" Tony yelled back at Mimi.

"You watched the basketball all damn week! I want to watch my shows!" Mimi clutched a video tape to her chest.

"I kind of wanna watch Iron Chef," Tristan piped up helpfully from the couch, where he held the remote control. "I mean, come on."

"Shut up," Tony snarled at Tristan. "I am sick of your tweeny shows playing at all hours of the day! Gives me a freakin' headache!"

"I said enough!" Gloria Marquez was a short, round woman, and amongst her clan of tall, skinny children, she could make herself heard. "What on earth is going on here?"

"I taped my shows this week," Mimi began in a plaintive tone than Gloria instantly recognized as her trying to win the argument because she was the baby and the girl. Gloria had caught onto this trick when Mimi was three; her brothers and father had taken much longer to realize their sweet, angelic sister and daughter was manipulating them for all she was worth. "And I just wanted to watch them."

"Antonio?" Gloria turned to her oldest son; Tony was already twenty, still lived at home and spent his days at the technical college while he decided what he wanted to do with his life.

"I come down here, my only day off this week, to watch the basketball and Miss Priss here prances in and starts playing that shit she watches," Tony said. "Ma, please, just buy me a TV and this will all be over."

Gloria sighed and walked forward to smooth Mimi's hair down. "Tony, I'll buy you your own TV when you go off to college – I'll buy you a DVD player when you get into medical school. But not while you sit around all day, okay?" Gloria tilted Mimi's head towards her. "It's 10a.m. on a Saturday; I'm not okay with you sitting inside watching a video. Why don't I give you and Angel a lift to the park?"

Mimi shrugged. "Angel's out with his friends." 'Friends' meaning one Thomas Collins who was slightly more than just Angel's 'friend', but Mimi knew her mother had grown up in a very strict Catholic household and no matter how easy going Gloria was about some things, Mimi wasn't quite sure her thoughts on homosexuality were positive ones.

"What about your friends? You're always talking about them," Gloria prompted. "Mark and Roger and…"

"Maureen," Tristan piped up.

"Joanne," Exodus flopped onto the lounge, "and Collins."

Mimi coloured slightly, knowing her brothers were teasing her about how much she rambled on about her new friends. "They've all got stuff on – dance lessons and soccer games and things. I never get to do any of that stuff."

"Life's tough," Gloria said, plucking the video tape out of Mimi's protective grip. "Okay guys. Tony, your father needs some help in the shop. Tristan…"

"I haven't done anything wrong!"

"You think I didn't hear you antagonizing them? You and Ex can clean your damned room; I don't want to see hide nor hair of either of you until every sock is in the laundry, until every dirty cup, plate and fork is in the dishwasher and every window washed. The vacuum cleaner is in the laundry."

"MOM!"

"Save it."

"Now, Mimi." Mimi visibly shank back as her mother's gaze hit her. "Is your room clean?"

"Yes."

"Your homework done?"

"Yes."

"Your chores done?"

"Yes, Mom. Can I watch my video now?"

"I don't believe you." Gloria marched her daughter upstairs to her bedroom at the end of the hallway. It wasn't as disgusting as the room Tristan and Exodus shared by any means; the bedcovers were pulled up, her curtains were open, there were papers and books stacked haphazardly on her desk and clothes thrown randomly around the room.

"I think it could be cleaner," Gloria said, picking up a dress that was draped over Mimi's desk chair and smoothing it. "You and I haven't had a chat about your new school yet, have we?"

"No," Mimi sat on her bed and reached for her teddy bear, a sulky look on her face.

"Daddy and I are happy that you've made new friends." It was almost automatic for Gloria to start picking and up folding the clothes flung around the room, slipping them into Mimi's wardrobe. A plaid skirt, some t shirts, a pair of jeans…

"Uh huh."

"We spoke to the counselor – don't worry, she spoke to all the transfer students' parents," Gloria reassured as Mimi's eyes widened. "But yes, she is a little concerned. She says you haven't made any friends your own age."

"I turn sixteen in two months. Angel's sixteen," Mimi protested. "So is Maureen."

"But they're all juniors, honey," Gloria shook her head. "You need to try and make friends with some nice girls in your classes, okay?"

Mimi shrugged.

"The counselor also mentioned your grades," Gloria picked up a halter neck dress. "She says they're much better than they were when you started, but you need to spend more time doing your homework and studying – she even recommended a nice boy to tutor you if you need help. You know Ex and Tristan will help you if you're having trouble."

"I am working hard, Mom. I spend ages on my homework – my marks don't look great because I started at this school late, not because I'm not working," Mimi sighed. She knew her marks would never been as brilliant as Collins or Joanne's but she did all the assigned work and got decent marks for them.

"Well, why don't you do your homework now? I know you fibbed to me. Get it over and done with now," Gloria shut Mimi's wardrobe. "Then you can have your video back."

Mimi groaned as her mother left the room with her tape; it hadn't been a suggestion.

---

Mark sighed as he and Roger walked away from the soccer field, both covered in grass and mud stains. They had lost their fourth game this season, continuing their four year losing streak; the team itself was completely hopeless, made up of kids who weren't serious athletes but just wanted to have fun.

It might have been just a little bit more fun if they won, or even tied a game, just once.

"What are you so pissed about?" Roger asked as they began to walk back to Roger's place. "We lost again. So what?"

"The other team's coach told them to _stop scoring_, Roger. It's kind of humiliating," Mark said dryly. Roger was busy checking messages on his mobile phone to really acknowledge what Mark was saying.

"Whatever. Wanna go to the movies or something?" Roger jammed his phone back in his pocket. "That new pirate ninja film is on at noon."

"Yeah, okay," Mark replied. "Wanna call the others? Maureen likes movies with blood and violence."

"And for our last English essay, you analyzed the love scenes from that really crappy movie," Roger grinned. "No guesses who'd be the woman in yours and Maureen's relationship."

"Oh, fuck off," Mark muttered, his cheeks scarlet; it was no secret that Mark had been crazy about Maureen for years, and Maureen was pretty much the only person in a twenty mile radius who hadn't worked it out.

"Language Mister Cohen," Roger joked as he pulled out his phone again to call the others to see if they wanted to meet up.

---

"_Hello. You've reached the Dumott residence. Hazel and Angel aren't home at the moment, so leave your name, phone number and a little message after the tone, and we'll return your call as soon as we can."_

"Angel, its Mimi. You aren't back yet, are you? Damnit. I'm under frelling house arrest because Tony can't damn well move out and go to college. Its 11:30 on a Saturday and I'm doing assignments. I had to wait till Mom went to the bathroom to smuggle the phone in here."

"Mimi! Didn't I tell you to finish your homework!"

"I swear Angel, if you don't rescue me soon, I'm going to fling myself from my bedroom window. You can have all my clothes and stuff. Call me as soon as you get home. Did I say it was Mimi?"

---

"Okay, Maureen will meet as at the mall at 11:45," Roger said. "Collins and Angel aren't picking up and Joanne's in the city for the weekend with her parents."

"Did you call Mimi?" Mark asked as he grabbed sodas from the fridge in the Davis' kitchen.

"Uh…" Roger looked at his phone again. "Nah. Didn't think she'd be interested."

"You like her," Mark said simply, as if it was widely known.

"She's a goddamned sophomore," Roger retorted.

"I didn't think you went for all that conformist crap," Mark said, quoting Roger directly from what he said around their classmates.

"It'd just be weird if I asked her to come to the movies," Roger shrugged. "She's probably busy anyway."

"You really like her."

"Who does Roger like?" Lindsey, Roger's twelve year old sister bounced into the kitchen, long blonde hair swinging, with an evil grin on her face. "Roger likes a girl!"

"I thought you were going out with that April girl, honey," Roger's mom, Annie, walked in. "Didn't that work out?"

Mark tried to smother his laughter as Roger tried to come up with a quick explanation about his 'friendship' with April.

"So there is another girl?" Annie said lightly. "I didn't think you knew many girls, Roger. Only April and Maureen Johnson."

"Roger's going out with _Maureen_?" one of Roger's three older brothers appeared in the kitchen. "That's truly fucked up, man. The girl is a crew cut short of becoming a total dyke."

"LUKE!" Annie turned around with a kitchen knife in her hand. "What have I said about the language that comes out of your mouth? Not around your sister! And whatever Maureen Johnson's life choices are, you will not speak of them in such a derogatory manner at all. Am I clear?"

"Mom, chill. I was merely pointing out that if he's going out with Maureen, Roger's finally admitted that he's a total girl," Luke said cheerfully, punching his little brother on the shoulder.

"Its okay, Mom, I know what a dyke is," Lindsey pointed out cheerfully as she pulled a package of cookies from the pantry. "It's what Luke calls girls who won't sleep with him."

Roger and Mark exchanged matching looks before fleeing from the kitchen before Annie Davis could burst a blood vessel at the fact her twelve year old knew more about her older brother's sex life than Annie did.

* * *


End file.
